Refurbing a C64 with a Raspberry Pi

When [Carl] first heard of the Raspberry Pi, he immeidatly though how freakin tiny this board is compared to a Mini ITX motherboard. After ordering a Raspi, [Carl] decided to put his barely-larger-than-a-credit-card computer inside a Commodore 64.

[Carl]’s updated C64 functions exactly like the original – the 30-year-old keyboard works thanks to the help of a Keyrah keyboard and control port adapter. This adapter was soldered to a stripped USB cable, allowing [Carl] to keep the finished project looking very clean and tidy. Of course, the composite, HDMI, and Ethernet ports are broken out, allowing for this computer to connect to any network or TV.

For a final touch, [Carl] painted the case. He originally wanted to spray on a black, red, and purple motif to match the Raspi, but he eventually settled on a beige and red style. [Carl] really put together an awesome build, and for much, much less money than the rereleased C64 Windows-powered monstrosity goes for. You can check out the build log video after the break.

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27 thoughts on “Refurbing a C64 with a Raspberry Pi”

Reminds me of the “Appledore” retro-mushup that one of the guys in my user group did a number of years ago:
“This is Fredrik’s Appledore. An Apple-I clone in a C64 case with a Propeller C64-to-Serial interface “terminal” and VGA output.

The Propeller is used to interface the C64 keyboard to the replica-I apple clonevia RS-232, and also output the text to a VGA output to form a seamless “computing system”. Very cool. :)”

It looks as if the case was empty anyhow. The only thing I would suggest is an interface for carts so you could plug those in. It would be a decent use of those gpio pins. Just don’t try to read the cart too quickly, it doesn’t like that.

Nice hack, and finished result. Purists, LOL :) Few who would restore a C64 to working order would use it for their current computer needs, like few of those who restore a Model T, would use it for their daily driver.

Do you really think a piece of mass-produced computer hardware with extremely well documented design is really analogous to a totally one of a kind hand-painted work of art by a historically significant artist? If so, you are the physical personification of the death of culture.

People need to try a lot harder at distinguishing between real destruction of history and pure sentimentality.

Folks- I’m feeling as if it’s become more important to flame/troll or just fling poo than be sincerely participant. So? RTFA and Watch The Video BEFORE commenting on a Hack. The overwhelming majority of Hacks posted here deserve a lot more respect. As does this one.

Saving the legacy case and keyboard from oblivion is worthy of honorable mention as a starter.

Showcasing the application of that adaptation board also serves to show us that “Yes- an older keyboard CAN be integrated with newer hardware, and it’s not too steep of a learning curve either.

Nice project. I’ve got a Commodore plus-4 sitting around and this sounds like a good use for it. There are still massive amounts of C64’s sitting around, they made millions of them so it’s not like they’re rare even after 30 years.

Nice one Mike,
Its nice to use the classic hardware when possible, you can’t beat it. I installed finch on my 314 and it felt very nostalgic, not that I was old enough to use telnet the first time round ;)

The charger conjointly has 2 USB ports that mean if you have got 2 devices
in want of charging, you wouldn’t like to wait for one to complete.
Check the signal indicator with the top with the screen,
if you can finjd no bars or even a ‘No Service’ indicator try waiting 10 minutes or move to an alternative location prior to the
service returns and also the ‘E’ can be viewed next in your signal bars.
Of course, should it be Tupperware, it doesn’t count, because I love my Tupperware and can never ppart with it and I know a
whole lot off other Tupperware lovers that feel the same way.